


He Loves Me, He Loves Me Knot

by bluepulsebluepulse



Category: DCU (Comics), Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice (Comics), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bart Allen - Freeform, Bart Allen/Jaime Reyes - Freeform, Bluepulse, Deja Vu, Geez, It's still my own, Jaime Reyes - Freeform, M/M, Quotes from YJ because it's a canon divergent, Resistance, So much angst, Soulmate AU, Speedbuggy, Time Travel, idk - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 11:48:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22969531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluepulsebluepulse/pseuds/bluepulsebluepulse
Summary: Angsty Bluepulse Soulmate AU (with a happy ending of course).
Relationships: Bart Allen/Jaime Reyes, Don Allen/Meloni Thawne
Comments: 4
Kudos: 70





	1. Rare

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PaintingWithDarkness](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaintingWithDarkness/gifts).



> I know I have done a soulmate AU before, but this is an entirely new premise and I had written this while back but it's been sitting my archives gathering dust, so I thought, why not post it?

**The Eve of Jaime’s 18th Birthday**

Hazel irises with an imprint of the warm golden spark from the candle on the birthday cake fluttered excitedly. The Reyes family had to break tradition this year and celebrate Jaime’s 18th birthday with the family the night before due to a family wedding the next day which only Bianca, Alberto, Jaime and Milagro were acceptably exempt from. Jaime’s feet backtracked to where he had been standing before stepping out of the emotional embrace with his parents.

“Te veré mañana por la mañana hijo.” Bianca’s smooth palm traced the sharp jaw of her son tenderly. (I will see you tomorrow morning son.)

“Te quiero, mamá.” Jaime’s smile was as sweet as the cake he had shared with his obnoxiously loud family. (I love you mom.)

The soon to be birthday boy extended his affections to his father after his mother had returned his initial sentiment. Jaime’s lungs expelled a breeze of anxiety from his pursed lips. Exercising control, he walked up the stairs and hopped onto his bed. With only an hour left on the clock, there were only sixty minutes standing in between him, and knowing who his soulmate was.

“Jaime?” A soft knock came from the same side of the door as the timid voice.

“Yeh ma?” Bianca could tell by her son’s tone that was her invitation in to the room.

The shorter woman strode across to her son’s bed and sat carefully on the end of his bed, making a conscious effort not to sit on any of his limbs.

“I just wanted to say, no matter what happens with your soulmate tomorrow, your father and I love you.” Her face wasn’t fully illuminated in the darkness of the room, but Jaime could see the faint outline of a motherly smile.

“Gracias ma.” The young man’s soft tone put the luscious, flannel pajamas he was wearing to shame.

“Oh and Milagro too.” Bianca’s last minute addition caused Jaime to chuckle.

“I think the jury is still out on that one.” Jaime’s cheek earned him an affectionate but punishing ruffle on the head.

_ [The Bianca Reyes is correct, Milagro Reyes does love you.] _ The all knowing Khaji Da provided Jaime with the answer he was well aware of, forcing him to roll his eyes.

“Buenas noches Jaime.” Bianca stood and walked over to his light switch and offered to turn it on. She knew her son well enough to know he was planning to stay up until midnight to watch as his soul string appeared. Obviously, Jaime agreed knowing it would save him the trouble of getting up to do it himself.

Upon closing his bedroom door, Bianca sought shelter in her own bed with her husband. Jaime wasted no time pulling his phone off the bedside table to place it by his side. He unlocked it to watch the timer he had set counting down.

“Only fifty-five minutes…” Jaime murmured to himself.

[ _ Fifty-four actually, Jaime Reyes. _ ] The pedantic passenger on Jaime’s spine corrected him, yet again, forcing Jaime to swing his pupils around his irises exasperatedly.

His thoughts drifted off into the soulmate process which everyone had been educated about. How everybody had the perfect partner assigned to them by the universe. Of course, he had read many articles about the subject and had read numerous horror stories where things had gone wrong. Those were extreme situations that occurred under extraordinary circumstances. He was just glad he was a regular human being, he didn’t see any cause for alarm. He expected everything to go smoothly once the clock struck midnight.

He smirked feeling superior given he knew for a fact that he was older than his soulmate. This was evident as he didn’t have a soul string attached to the ring finger on his right hand. Each person had a soul string connecting them to their soulmate meaning everybody had two soul strings, one tied to a ring finger on each hand. The left hand was for your personal soul string which linked to your soulmate’s right ring finger. The right hand was for your soulmate’s string to connect around your own ring finger. And given Jaime’s right ring finger was naked, that meant his soulmate had not yet turned eighteen years of age. Each soul string was a different color too and matched the color of the soul-owner’s hand.

Jaime suspected his soul string would be blue as it was his favorite color. And it was only a matter of time until his soul string appeared out of thin air on his left ring finger connecting him to his soulmate. His parents had urged him not to go wandering out in the middle of the night to find the person on the other end of that string, but he was dying of curiosity. His expensive sneakers were quietly waiting under his bed for quick extraction.

Imaginary faces flipped through his mind’s eye like a poker machine. Whoever it was, he knew he didn’t have to worry. Having a soulmate meant you were guaranteed to have physical and emotional attraction to this one person beyond your wildest dreams. He was going to be okay, once he had this special person in his life, everything would click and come together for him.

The Reach had tried to put him on mode when he was sixteen, but had failed due to poor planning and execution. Jaime had been worried he would never even make it to his eighteenth birthday given how close he had come to being made a slave. He wondered whether his soulmate had any demons of their own, maybe they could heap look out for one another. Of course, being the eldest of the two, he felt compelled to be the primary protector. He would look after his soulmate and make sure no harm ever came to them. He had never even met them yet, and he was in love with the fantasy of whoever they were. He just was indescribably elated to meet his soulmate.

[ _ Five minutes until midnight Jaime Reyes. _ ] Despite a lack of excitement in the android’s tone, Jaime was still over the moon.

Jaime started to bounce his leg against his mattress as a method of releasing the excitement building in his body. Despite having a minute to represent each appendage on his left hand, he lifted it up in anticipation of the clock striking twelve. Khaji Da tried to convince Jaime to lower his hand until it was closer to the time, but Jaime just ignored the suggestion; as well as the ache in his shoulder that was beginning to set in.

[ _ Ten seconds. _ ]

Jaime’s eyes widened ever slightly and focused intently on the left hand hovering in front of him level with his chest. He counted down with the scarab and took a sharp breath in as the counter hit zero.

[ _ Happy Birthday Jaime Reyes. _ ] Khaji Da had sounded only marginally happy making the announcement.

Jaime’s eyes lit up with excitement to beam as brightly as all his teeth that were flashing the world when he spotted a cobalt blue string wrapped around his ring finger. His pupils hungrily scanned down the string from the bow knot around his ring finger. Then, he gasped. His string had been… severed.

The Latino stared long and hard at the frayed threads hanging just short of his wrist. Tenderly, his right hand reached out to lift the string up. It was indeed broken.  _ But... how? _

[ _ Jaime Reyes are you alright? You just experienced a severe shift into sadness. _ ] The oblivious scarab had to repeat his question several times before Jaime was shaken from his shocked stupor.

“I don’t understand?” Jaime whispered aloud instead of in his mind.

[ _ I wasn’t sure whether you would like me to comment on the severed string? _ ] The beetle had chosen up till that point not to comment, afraid of upsetting his host.

“Well of course I do? What the hell is going on?” Jaime’s voice cracked, it was desperate for answers.

[ _ My logic indicates only one solution. _ ] Khaji Da coyly offered hoping Jaime wouldn’t press for it.

Of course, Jaime demanded the supposed explanation for this atrocity of a situation. Deep down, Jaime knew what the only cause was, but his gut refused to believe it. It wasn’t fair. It just couldn’t be.

[ _ A person’s soul string becomes severed when their soulmate chooses to untie the string from their hand. _ ]

The scarab was taken aback when Jaime began crying, a rare sight. Jaime didn’t understand. His soulmate had essentially disowned him. Typically, people only untied their soul strings once they had discovered who their soulmate was, then there was no need for the guiding twine. If one end was untied, the other became severed. If both ends were untied, the thread would simply disappear altogether.

This meant, Jaime’s soulmate had chosen to untie the blue cord from their right ring finger, leaving Jaime with a severed end for symbolism. Nobody understood how the magical strings functioned. The question was why? The stakes were high. Once someone untied their soul string, it would never come back. Jaime’s soulmate had just destroyed one of their two connections to one another.

“Scarab,” Jaime sniffed whilst wiping his nose with his forearm, “Why would my soulmate do this? Why did they disown me?” The questioner continued to cry until confusion settled upon his face, “Wait a second… How could they have? I was watching and saw it form right on midnight. Scarab! How could they have untied their end that quickly?” Jaime’s eyebrows knitted together in intense confusion. That soul string had been severed from the instant it had formed. Either his soulmate had super speed or something strange was going on.

[ _ Chances of your soulmate having untied your soul string to their hand in a fraction of a second are low. There’s only one other plausible solution, but it is also extremely unlikely. _ ]

“What is it?” Jaime insisted against his better judgement.

[ _ It is possible that your soulmate severed the soul string in a different timeline. _ ] The scarab provided the theory that left Jaime in utter disbelief.

Jaime thought the odds of that happening were astronomical. However, he was a superhero, maybe his soulmate was a time traveler. But that still didn’t answer Jaime’s main question, why did they untie their end of his soul string.

[ _ Don’t worry Jaime Reyes. All hope is not lost. Your right hand is still vacant. When your soulmate turns eighteen, you will have one more chance to find them when their soul string connects to your right hand. _ ] Khaji Da decided to answer with logic instead of trying to analyse and provide an answer to the many potential reasons his soulmate would have been motivated to take their soul string off mode.

“ _ Don’t you get it ese! My soulmate doesn’t want me! _ ” Jaime’s voice cracked under the crushing weight of rejection coursing through him.

[ _ There are millions of reasons why your soulmate untied their end of the soul string. All you can do is wait until their soul string connects to you when they turn eighteen years of age. _ ] The sorrowful scarab repeated himself to no avail.

Jaime continued to re-trek the same ground, continually asking Khaji Da for an explanation. He needed to know why his soulmate had chosen to sever their connection. After a while of not having calmed down, Jaime sidestepped to another relevant question.

“Should I untie my end? I mean… It’s pointless now. Once a soul string is cut, it will never reform. So it seems stupid to hold onto this,” Jaime gestured at his left wrist before spitting the last word of his sentence with disgust, “thing!”

[ _ It’s up to you Jaime Reyes. But you are correct, once a soul string is cut, it will never reform. _ ]

He pondered the decision for a few minutes and reach out pinching the bow, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. There was a slither of hope hiding in his heart. But ultimately, staring at the strand lifelessly only brought back more tears to his eyes.

Jaime’s heartbreak only grew with every passing second, his chest felt heavier and heavier. He couldn’t fathom the justification behind the action.  _ What have I done to deserve this? _ Jaime continued to ask himself that same question in his mind, reworded slightly with each reiteration.

Khaji Da eventually gave up trying to comfort Jaime and left his human host to battle his own demons.

Jaime’s mind disallowed any sleep and continued to spiral out of control as it provided Jaime with a new potential reason for his disownment every few minutes. By now his hand had been well and truly tucked behind his back to hide the painful reminder. However, his mind was excelling in torturing him regardless of the reminder. 

The despair Jaime felt across the remainder of the morning, and informing his parents the next day was nothing in comparison to the events occurring a few months later. The Reach took a second stab at getting Jaime back on mode and succeeded, and thus began the Reach apocalypse.


	2. Welcome To The World?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There is a low-key descriptive childbirth scene in this chapter. Should be fine to read though?

**The Birth Date of Bart Allen**

Meloni’s blood curdling screams echoed through the safehouse and she was in too much pain to hear them. She couldn’t even feel Don’s hand supportively squeezing her own.

“Just one more push!” Don was forced to shout if he had any hopes of wanting Meloni to overhear his remark over her own screaming.

Meloni looked up at Don one last time through tired eyes. She was certain her eyes were bloodshot to match the crimson red skin on her face. She writhed in agony as she prepared herself for what she hoped more than anything to be the last attempt.

“Argh!” Meloni shouted at the top her lungs, holding the word out for a good ten seconds. Finally, she felt relief. Don scooped up the baby in a clean blanket that he had stolen from miles away as the best option for delivering Bart. They had nothing hygenic in terms of material in the safehouse, Meloni was as grateful for her husband being a speedster to get them the best supplies available for the birth of their son as she was to finally be officially complete with her labor. Despite the immense guilt she swam in for having brought another human into this horrible world, she loved him with all of her heart and wanted the very best for him.

Don let out a noise of confusion as Bart was jerked sideways by an unseen force. The fear of dropping his newborn son had twisted his stomach like Bart’s umbilical cord.

At exactly the same moment the newborn had arrived into the apocalyptic world, the Reach’s right hand man had also experienced a similar force jerk his left hand backward.

“Huh?” A lifeless Jaime awoke from his nap. The gloomy but familiar surroundings of his cell were the first thing he noticed when he groggily wiped his eyes that no longer wanted to see. With no option but to helplessly witness himself commit heinous acts he was forced to carry out upon the Ambassador abusing his body’s control, he often found himself wishing he was blind.

Suddenly, he noticed it. His eyes went wide with disbelief as he noticed a blue string slithering out of two of the parallel, iron bars of his prison cell door. Ironically, they didn’t serve much use. Even if Jaime had run for his freedom, the Reach would have simply activated his suit before he had gotten too far and he would have been forced to return by Khaji Da’s armor.

Sluggishly, Jaime raised his left hand level with his eyes to indeed confirm his soul string was in tact. It was.

“Dios mio.” Jaime’s hoarse throat regurgitated the words quietly. Using his right hand, he gently fed the blue cord through his palm until he was standing and following it to the cell door. With great difficulty, Jaime managed to slot his face awkwardly in between the gap in his cell door to peer down the dark corridor. But he could definitely see it, his soul string trailed along the floor until it had veered sharply around the corner of the wall.

Jaime immediately began trying to figure out what was going on. The soul string on his left hand, which had been severed all his life, was now connected to his soulmate.  _ How is this possible? Did my soulmate just arrive in this time?  _ Jaime had never forgotten about his time traveler theory. His soulmate must have finally arrived in his time, meaning that at some point in his future, his soul mate would untie their end which is why his end had been severed when he had first turned eighteen. Jaime wasn’t sure if he was right, but he was confident that he had his assumption correct, or that he was close to the truth. 

The armor snapped down viciously over Jaime’s body as his break was over and it was now time for him to patrol Reach headquarters.

[ _ Ambassador. I must inform you of a recent development. _ ] Khaji Da hissed.

Jaime’s eyes shot open wide in terror.

_ “What? No! Khaji Da! Please! I’m begging you please don’t tell him!” _ Jaime begged with everything he had. He knew his soul mate wasn’t safe given that Khaji Da could see his soul string. The Ambassador wasn’t able to, in fact, nobody could see somebody else’s soul string except for the two people it was attached too. But the twisted leader of the Reach could just have easily ordered Khaji Da to hunt down his soul mate by tracing the cord.

[ _ I must do as design parameters dictate. Parameter number, thirty-three, states: I must inform, declare or alert the Ambassador to any information or data that affects the human host physically or emotionally. _ ]

_ “What is it warrior?”  _ Jaime shuddered as the Ambassador’s evil tone rang through his mind.

[ _ The Jaime Reyes has established a Type A soul string with his soul mate. _ ] The scarab continued providing the information despite Jaime’s pleas.

_ “Is that so?” _ The intrigue in the murderous leader’s tone superseded the unpleasantness of his earlier remark, sending a chill down Jaime’s spine. One that he wished would short circuit the hypnotized hitchhiker on his back, but it never did.

[ _ What action would you like me to take Ambassador? _ ]

_ “As fun as it would be to hunt down this soul mate and kill them, the Scientist insists you stay put to run operations and keep the slaves in line. And besides, they will likely come looking for you, and when they do, we’ll be ready.”  _ The wicked man cackled maniacally from his control room higher up in the building.

Jaime felt hot tears run down his cheeks as he dwelled on his helpless position. Initially, Jaime had resented his soul mate for having abandoned him. It was a strong resentment, one that Jaime’s family quite concerned for his emotional wellbeing. Of course, then Jaime had been put on mode not too far down the track, where had he realized, he could have committed any number of atrocious acts to drive away his soul mate. He was even slightly concerned that somehow he may have even killed his soul mate, although that was unlikely. But given that time travel was likely involved, his theories were very much fueled by imagination and not facts. In fact, there wasn’t anybody qualified or proficient enough in the study of soul strings to explain Jaime’s situation to him. He had tried after his birthday reaching out to people who had some experience and they had been just as perplexed by his situation as him.

But over the soul crushing years of being a slave to the reach, in a life no longer worth living, Jaime had come to pity his soul mate and forgive them for their judgement. He could certainly understand hypothetically why they had disowned him. He was simply put, a monster. Or at least in the eyes of the people who were at his mercy, more rather, the Ambassador’s. The alien with pale green skin had none.

And here he was, stuck inside his armor, with no way to warn his soul mate to avoid him like the plague. It was the strangest sensation he never expected to feel, but he actually hoped for the first time in his life that his soulmate stayed away. He didn’t want them being killed, or being enslaved which was arguably worse.

_ “Anyway, Jaime Reyes, you are scheduled for duty. Report to the slave station now!” _ The Ambassador sounded psychotically happy and it repulsed Jaime. The leader knew Jaime would live in constant fear until his soul mate showed up, and then undoubtedly discover a new devastation that not even his meaningless existence plagued him with once the Ambassador decided how to deal with them. It was sickening knowing he derived joy from Jaime’s sheer misery.

Tears continued to sprint down Jaime’s cheeks where he couldn’t even reach to wipe them away as the armor forced him to march down the corridor in the opposite direction to the blue soul string. It simply just grew and got longer as it followed Jaime. It was a weird magical phenomenon that was still surprising despite Jaime being no stranger to surprising things. His scarab had capabilities that were ever surprising, and he was still shocked.

Meanwhile, Don had cleaned Bart up and taken care of the umbilical cord. Bart was now blood free and had stopped crying much to his parent’s surprise. Meloni cried tears of joy as her husband handed over her son to hold for the first time.

“He’s gorgeous.” Meloni blinked away the tears in an effort to try and get a better look at his emerald eyes. Don nodded in agreeance and wrapped his arm around Meloni’s shoulders gently.

“I think we’ll call you… Bartholomew Allen.” Meloni’s smile grew even wider at the most important declaration she had ever made.

Don chuckled as Bart let out a happy noise only moments later before closing his eyes and relaxing into the soft fabric he was encased in.

“I promise I’ll never let anything happen to you Bartholomew.” Don gently brushed his thumb over the chubby cheek of his newborn son.

Bart’s father had meant every word and even had a contingency plan in place already. Don had befriended a man from the revolution that he would entrust not only his own, but Bart’s life with. His name was Nathaniel Tyron. He had initially started out as a slave for the Reach, but one fortunate day, Don had set him free using a nano-technology marble programmed to free people of the tyrannical control of the Reach.

Nathaniel had pledged his allegiance to Don and the revolution and the fight was personal to him. He aided on countless extraction missions and had helped save many slaves in partnership with Don and other founding members of the revolution. The fight had become especially personal to Don when the Reach had killed Wally West, Bart’s first cousin once removed. He had been buried and given a ceremony for his bravery and service. Not a single day went by where Don, Meloni, and the remainder of the revolution didn’t spare a moment to thank Wally for his service.

Nathaniel had happily accepted the responsibility to act as Bart’s guardian in the event that Don and Meloni were no longer able to. It was an intimate danger Don faced daily as a leader of the revolution. Don looked down at his son and couldn’t shake himself from the singular thought branded on his mind.  _ I hope Bart never has to fight against the Reach.  _ Meloni was also thinking along the same lines. They both hoped the revolution would prove victorious at some point in the near future.

“He’s perfect.” Meloni whispered as she leaned down slowly to kiss him on the forehead.

“Yes he is. And he has given me new motivation to fight.” Don spared a loving glance at his wife.

Both parents stood staring down in awe at their newborn child as he slept peacefully unaware of the brutal environment and fractured society he had been born into. It was a dangerous time to be alive, possibly throughout all of history. Don and Meloni chose to cherish their son as a gift, a light in the darkness. He would hopefully grace them with an emotion they hadn’t felt in years, joy.


	3. Loose Ends

As Bart had grown up, the sky had only gotten darker with depression as it failed to grieve. Ash rained down gracefully from the sky. The embers filled the air with an awful musty smell that Bart and Nathaniel were used to. The ash looked like tears falling from the sky, and today, Bart was dealing with own. Bart’s tears dropped in a steady rhythm, his heart playing sad notes in conjunction with them.

Today was the day both of his parents had been killed, along with the entire revolution. Nathaniel had been the only survivor, and even then, that had been lucky. The Reach had sent a swarm of Reach soldiers to investigate a hunch the Scientist had regarding the whereabouts of the revolution. She had deduced their safehouse, and unfortunately it had been a meeting. Not one person had made it out alive. Nathaniel had only been absent because he was sick and Bart had been taking care of him. The next day when neither Don nor Meloni had returned, Nathaniel dragged himself over to the location of the meeting to discover what they had both feared.

Bart was glad he had been too young to go, because he knew he would have been traumatized beyond repair had he witnessed it. Nathaniel had promised Bart he had given them all a similar funeral to Wally’s. A respectful one. Bart had only been allowed to visit once to grieve as Nathaniel was extremely weary of the possibility that the Reach were monitoring that location. It had taken much begging to get him to agree, but once a suitable amount of time had passed, he had agreed.

“Bart are you alright?” Nathaniel approached slowly from behind and rested a hand on Bart’s shoulder.

Bart nodded meekly as he remained crouched in front of the makeshift graves he had made outside their safehouse. Since he couldn’t go to their real graves for safety reasons, he had made two representational graves to honor his parents. He had been lucky not to be caught the one time he had actually gone to the site of their actual resting places. He knew he couldn’t push it.

_ I’m all alone _ . Bart’s thoughts swirled on his constant feelings of loneliness. He didn’t really count Nathaniel as family. The man had actually become quite bitter after the murder of his parents. As times hadn’t gotten tougher, Bart had been a burden to him. It was a dark way to view it, but Nathaniel couldn’t help it. Raising Bart had not been easy when he had a speedster’s appetite. Bart’s speed had luckily helped in acquiring food once he had gotten old enough to wander off on his own. The two were still a team, and would help each other out as much as they could, but there was still an unspoken spanner in their relationship.

Bart’s faded green eyes scanned the cobalt blue string attached to his right ring finger. It trailed out as far as the eye and faded out into the black horizon. He knew what it was, he had asked questions once he was old enough to question it. He flickered over the brief and cagey explanation Nathaniel had given him. Every single time he had brought it up, Nathaniel had aggressively stretched that under no circumstance was Bart to follow the soul string. Neither of them had any idea what sort of danger it would lead them through to get to his soul mate.

“If you’re thinking about your soulmate again, stop!” Nathaniel’s harsh tone cut through Bart’s daydream.

“I’m not.” Bart stammered sternly, a mixture of both confidence and nervousness came out in his tone.

Nathaniel glared at Bart and let his eyes do the talking. Bart knew he didn’t believe him. It made Bart angry, he had no idea why he couldn’t investigate. Even just a little. He was a speedster, he would be able to avoid any dangers along the way to meet his soulmate.

“Bart, just because you’re a speedster, it doesn’t mean you’re untouchable.” The reminder that Bart seemed to need more often than not was drummed into his skull again.

“I know.” Bart murmured with irritation, not appreciating this lecture all over again.  _ I’m thirteen! I can take care of myself! And besides, my soulmate might need help!  _ Bart’s altruistic motivations often bled into his thoughts. His desire to help people burned bright, Nathaniel was constantly reminded of Don by Bart. Bart didn’t know it, but that was a large part of the issue with their relationship.

“They have soldiers that wear scarabs! They are technological devices that are installed with Artificial Intelligence unlike you’ve ever seen. They can form weapons out of their armor, Bart! If you get caught, they will either kill you or enslave you. They have inhibitor collars that will take away your speed, and you will be just a regular human again, stranded in hell.” Nathaniel repeated his speech mostly word for word that Bart had to resist the urge to jump in and voice it with him.

“I know.” Bart repeated his weak acknowledgement of Nathaniel’s serious warning.

“You can’t risk getting caught! Especially not when the time machine is nearly finished Bart. People are counting on you, all of mankind actually.” The former slave stood and walked off to continue working on the time machine, “You coming to help?”

“Sure.” Bart stood up and shook out the cramps in his legs. He had been sitting down for hours. There wasn’t much else to do other than grieve his parents. Other than scavenge for resources or food. But they were currently okay on that front.

Bart shoved aside the faded grey tarp covering the entrance to the hollow of the cave they had turned into their temporary home. The pair made an effort to move frequently to avoid being found by the Reach. His pupils jumped from each scattered piece nut, screw and bolt lying on the floor in the blink of an eye. The machine was relatively small, and they could afford to do that given Bart’s small size. He was after all the sole passenger of the vessel. It was extremely beneficial that they only had to build a Bart-sized machine given the limited resources they had access to.

“Tomorrow, you’re going back to the past and you’re going to crash the mode.” Nathaniel’s voice had sounded the lightest it ever had.

“Crash.” Bart’s singular word floated out of his mouth and seemed to make the mountain side they were stashed in seem brighter.

“Okay, we’re going to go over the plan one more time.” Nathaniel’s fleeting moment of happiness had vanished and he was stone cold serious again.

Bart listened intensely as Nathaniel explained that the time machine would take Bart back to just before the Reach’s first, unsuccessful attempt to put Jaime on mode at sixteen. It was imperative that Bart not only stop them, but take them down entirely. And if that meant killing Jaime Reyes (also known as Blue Beetle) as a last resort, then that’s what he had to do. That contingency plan had never sat well with Bart, he liked helping people, not killing them. After all, Nathaniel was the one who had told Bart that there were people under the armor who were most likely just innocent victims caught in the already overcrowded web of people under the control of the Reach. Bart had been shown a photo of Blue Beetle so he knew what he looked like, the name was also quite self explanatory. Nathaniel had taken it from the revolution’s archives long ago and carried it with him for the past mission he had been planning for years. Bart had one more task to do, and that was to free Nathaniel from Reach control back when he was still Neutron.

Bart was suddenly aware of brown eyes boring into his own for confirmation from the man holding a spanner across the room.

“Got it.” Bart noted sourly in response to the grossly sharp stare he hated. He preferred Nathaniel yelling at him over that specific look. Whenever Bart received it, he wanted to hide.

“Now go to bed, you’ve got a big day tomorrow.” Nathaniel’s words made their way to Bart’s ears despite the fact neither of them were making eye contact any longer.

Without audibly responding, Bart shuffled over to the ragged, ripped blanket in the corner of the cave. Bart wriggled into the thicker sections of the blanket to try and conserve as much of the heat he could from the material. It wasn’t long until Nathaniel had finished wiping sweat off his brow and he walked over to his own blanket to sleep.

As soon as Bart was certain Nathaniel was asleep, he made a split second decision. He was going to see his soulmate. It only seemed fair to get one quick peek if anything of his soulmate while he still could. The memory would be the only thing he would have to carry with him for the rest of his yet again lonely life back in the past. Bart wasn’t even sure what to expect back in the past. It was definitely going to be much better than the awful reality he was currently shackled to. He just wanted to see his soulmate just once.

Bart said one last goodbye to his parents before he looked down at the string spanning across the expanse of dust and ash covered ground. He prayed wherever the soul string led him, that he would get to the other end safely. He really hoped this wouldn’t be the end of his bloodline.

A deep exhale left Bart’s nostrils as he looked up at the sky. Once his head bobbed down to angle at the ground, he began running accelerating his pace with every step. He could feel hope beating in his chest, he wondered whether his soulmate would be able to help him. But most of all, Bart hoped his soulmate was in good health. He was half expecting to find his soulmate trapped in the Reach’s slavery camp.

The reality dawned on him quickly as he approached a rickety electric fence encasing hundreds of slaves. Further into the mountainous terrain, Bart ran past even more slaves all carrying miscellaneous valuables from amongst the rubble. His fingers rested on the jagged, umber, slanted sick of a boulder as he peeked out to see how much longer he had to run before reaching the end of his soul string.

His eyes nervously traced the now much shorter string finishing only a dozen yards away. Bart’s eyes jumped unexpectedly spotting neon, sapphire plated armor. His eyes traveled North nevertheless not yet stopping until his eyes found the charcoal hand where his soul string wound up in a bow proudly marking its owner.

“No.” Bart whispered as his eyes fell open in conjunction with his jaw. His heart rate elevated to dangerous levels as his brain processed the person, or more accurately, warrior, who was apparently his soulmate.  _ This can’t be. My soulmate cannot be Blue Beetle. This isn’t possible. I- I- _

An exhausted Bart was forced to run when the warrior suddenly swiveled to face him in all his terrifying glory. The armor encased a large man, with broad, intimidating shoulders. His musculature was overwhelming, and not in a good way. The faceplate of the armor had a sinister shape to it. Everything about him terrified Bart beyond words and distracted him.

Jaime gasped inside the armor as Khaji Da announced to the Ambassador that his soul mate had finally come looking for him after all these years. Jaime had eventually settled on relief believing his soulmate wasn’t coming for him given it had taken him thirteen years to show himself. Jaime immediately began begging Khaji Da to disengage as the leader by contrast ordered Khaji Da to stop the intruder from escaping.

Confused pupils expanded to realize the figure of his soul mate was so small, because it was a boy. Jaime hadn’t known whether to expect a man or a woman given his feelings that he had harbored before going on mode all those decades ago, but a boy. He had not seen that coming. It was then that he rebooted his theory. Somehow, this boy, would time travel and to a time when he and Jaime were of a similar age making their relationship possible, because right now, it wasn’t and made no sense.

[ _ Anticipating pattern of movement. Target Acquired. _ ] Khaji Da formed a staple gun at the Ambassador’s command and fired.

“Ugh!” Bart winced as he was thrown against the mountain side under the force of a blue staple.

Bart could have phased through the staple and kept running, but he was frozen in fear as the gigantic man began approaching him with resolve.

Jaime continued screaming at the scarab to stop, yet again pointlessly, as he watched in horror as Khaji Da marched him over to his captive.

The Ambassador chose his words carefully, “Hello meat. You must be my soulmate.”

Jaime felt sick even hearing those words come out of his mouth when all he wanted to do was tell his soulmate to run. To run hard, and run far. Instead, his soulmate was only hearing lobbed insults. Jaime watched heartbroken as his soulmate remained staring up at his eyes, not being able to see the real Jaime underneath, only seeing him for the monster he looked like and was forced to act like. Bart began crying as the realization sunk in. He knew this would adversely impact upon his mission. Jaime cried with him.

Jaime whimpered as he was forced to slap an inhibitor collar around Bart’s neck, as was customary with all slaves. His eyebrows spiked in surprise in a way he wasn’t aware he was still capable of when Khaji Da had mentioned that his soulmate was a speedster. The Ambassador decided Bart could prove of some use and decided not to kill him much to Jaime’s relief, but then the inevitable happened.

“Alright meat, you work as a slave for us. Do as I say, and you’ll live to see another day.” Jaime’s mouth twitched as he was forced to threaten Bart with his life.

Bart still remained speechless, Jaime freed him from the staple and immediately forced him to begin working in tandem with the other slaves. Bart was forced to work all throughout the night and even the early hours of the next morning. The speedster had never witnessed or experienced firsthand, such cruelty. 

Bart was exhausted from having had no break to sleep or eat. His muscles were screaming like the slave being punished by Black Beetle for having taken too long to meet her quota. Bart’s knees gave way and before he knew it he had crashed into the ground with the computer he had been carrying. 

Bart’s heart stopped as a flash of plasma energy was fired just ahead of his kneecaps. “On your feet slave!” Jaime ordered after his inhumane method of motivation. 

It was then that it truly occurred to Bart. He was so close to Jaime that their soul string was no longer sagging against the ground and was instead remaining tugged tightly through the thin passage of air between them. It was prominent, it was a loud reminder for Bart that his soulmate was his torturer. He teared up as he stood back up again wobbly. Once he had his footing, he seemed to sober up with a second wind. His left hand quickly moved over to the roof of his right hand where the bow rested above his ring finger. His thumb and index finger pinched down with all the pain he felt in his heart, and yanked. The bow came undone effortlessly and the second Bart’s end of the soul string hit the floor, it began vanishing up, finally stopping just short of Jaime’s end, leaving a frayed, severed connection.

Jaime’s heart shattered inside of his chest. Who would have thought that his soulmate could have found a new way to hurt him that the Ambassador or Reach scientist hadn’t thought of? Ultimately, Jaime understood why his soulmate had untied his end. Why would he want a reminder that the universe had chosen to bound their two souls together? Bart had only gotten to know the fake Jaime, the Ambassador controlled front. Not the real Jaime. Bart just acted on impulse, much like his decision to go against Nathaniel’s warning.

Bart blinked with a frown settled on his lips, one of determination. Jaime could tell he wanted it to have hurt emotionally. Sure, Bart didn’t have the full story, but his plan had worked nonetheless. And just like that, Bart picked up the computer and got back to slaving away under Jaime’s watch avoiding his eye at every cost. That action alone made Jaime begin crying even more violently under his armor.

Just when Jaime thought the Reach riddled hell he was stuck in couldn’t get worse, he had been proven wrong.


	4. Not So Nice Discoveries

Nathaniel woke up the next morning feeling a little stiff in his muscles from all the grueling labor on the time machine, but that was balanced by a sense of relief. Today was the day Bart would go back in time and fix everything. Of course, there was always the chance that something would go wrong with the programming and Bart could cease to exist. But he was trying to bury those fears as deep as he could. He needed to be confident in his and Bart’s intellect and their calculations.

With one of the rarest sights in the world, a smiling Nathaniel lifted his feather light head and craned to look over at Bart. At least, where Bart should have been. The smile quickly disappeared as it reverted to a frown.  _ He’s probably saying goodbye to his parents. _

Nathaniel walked calmly and pushed through the tarpaulin flaps. He consciously felt the pressure of his teeth as he clenched them together. Bart was gone, and he had a fairly good idea where the speedster had gone.

“Bart!” The tall, lanky man snapped as he stormed back into the cave with such vigor he tore one of the tarps down from the ceiling.

_ I told him not to go find his soulmate! Now I’m going to have to rescue that impulsive brat! That’s if they haven’t killed him already. _

Shaking his head, he gripped the edge of the table they had used to plan the past trip on. The man formerly known as Neutron was surprised that he was able to scheme up a plan through all the rage coursing in his heated head.

He needed to fetch some resources first though. His trek would take about a day and a half and approximately the same to get back to Reach headquarters. Three days. Bart was going to be stuck in Reach custody for three days. Despite his indescribable level of lividness, he couldn’t help but pity Bart for the position he was in. Sure it was selfish of Bart to have jeopardized the future of all mankind to give in to the urge to find his soulmate, but nobody deserved to find themselves at the mercy of the Reach. Nobody.

Nathaniel had to remind himself, Bart was young and naive. He was extremely mature for his age, but sometimes, as to be expected, he would give in to his impulsivity. Even when Nathaniel knew that Bart knew it was wrong. He thought he knew better, and most of the time he was right, but this time, he was wrong.

Exhaling in pity for himself, the man collected all the supplies he would need to make it to the resources cave where the revolution had stored all their supplies. The revolution had strategised to keep their resources in a separate location to their hideout so that if anything happened to the hideout, they wouldn’t lose all their supplies, they’d also have a temporary place to stay before moving on.

“You’re off duty meat!” The built like a house Blue Beetle roared at the top of his lungs so that all of the prisoners could hear him over the wailing winds of despair.

A chorus of relieved sighs filled the air as exhausted, blistered feet shuffled their owners back to the Reach headquarters. Bart’s feet ached like he had never known. His lower back felt like it was on fire from having heaved around countless objects that were heavier than he was. His hands had taught him something new. Apparently you can develop calluses overnight. 

What he craved most though, was not to sit down or relax on the floor. It was to have a nice, warm shower; the winds had blown so much ash onto him that he could feel it on every inch of his body. The soot had managed to get in underneath his ragged, torn clothes. He had never felt so dirty before.

Bart refused to meet the eyes of the cruel, sadistic Reach warrior who had made him work all throughout the night. He could feel those evil orange eyes boring into his back. Little did he know that was the Ambassador forcing Jaime to stare at him through dried up tear ducts. Jaime had no more tears left to cry, they were all gone. His hope had been crushed like some of the prisoners who had been standing underneath a rocky cliff that had given way. Not only was he forced to treat the Reach slaves like garbage, they were also forced to work in perilous conditions that threatened death daily. It was the pure definition of hell.

The former speedster, who had tried tugging his inhibitor collar off more times that he could count followed all the other slaves as he had never gone into the building before and had no idea where to go. Bart was disgusted by the pristine condition of the inside of the building. It screamed how big their ego was when it came to their reputation. They treated the upkeep of the building with a billion more times respect that they did their slaves. 

Bart got distracted by looking around that he accidentally walked into the back of a stranger.

“Oof!” Bart rubbed his strained eyes that hadn’t quite adjusted to the well-lit interior of the building. When his eyes focused he noticed a scowling man looking down at him. He was missing several teeth, likely punched out or knocked out from brawls with either other slaves or worse.

“Watch where you’re going kid or I’ll end you.” The blunt threat was followed by a finger slid across the throat gesture. Bart was horrified that someone else suffering in this environment would extend such violence to him. If there was anyway to redirect that attitude to, it wasn’t your fellow innocent slave, it was the Reach. They were the ones keeping everyone here.

Bart quietly whispered back an apology and tried to put as much distance as he could between himself and that psychopath. Eventually he found the cafeteria where there were trays filled with sloppy mashed potato. The potato was grey, almost like the sky outside. Bart wondered what they had put in it. There were scoops lying in the third-world slop. Copying as everyone else did, he grabbed a tray, bowl and scooped the slosh into it. It looked uneditable.

Bart looked around for cutlery but couldn’t see any. That’s when he noticed it, everyone was eating with their hands. With an already exhausted face of horror, Bart shook his head weakly. His sad emerald eyes were as dull as the potato in front of him. He wasn’t about to use his filthy hands to eat. He would likely end up with an infection, and without speed-healing, he was very conscious of the fact he had to be very careful if he wanted to survive. Without trying to dwell on the condition of some of the other slaves around him who clearly didn’t care if they lived or not anymore, he resolved to remain determined to take care of himself. 

He leaned down slowly and lapped up some of the potato with his tongue. As soon as he furled it back into his mouth he shivered as the repulsive potato punched his taste buds. His pink tongue shot out to hold the potato outside his mouth so that he could recover.

“What’s wrong meat? Don’t like the food?” An entitled voice came from behind Bart.

Bart’s eyebrows furrowed together angrily as he refused to turn his head to face Blue Beetle. His eyes remained fixed on the potato as the torturer leaned down by his side invasively.

“Eat it!” The warrior shouted the demand so loudly most of the heads in the cafeteria couldn’t help but swivel in Bart’s direction. They knew it was dangerous to look, but they couldn’t resist.

“No.” The defiant response tumbled from Bart’s lips and dived into the potato quickly to hide knowing it was dangerous to oppose him.

“I said… Eat the food, meat!” The man was forced to pop the ‘t’ consonant as he growled at his soulmate.

Bart sat quietly still refusing to meet his eye. Everybody gasped for Bart when he suddenly couldn’t. Blue Beetle had violently shoved Bart’s head into the bowl full of potato. Jaime began shouting again at the beetle and Ambassador inside his mind, not that Bart could hear it; no matter how loud he screamed it.

_ Stop! Please! Scarab stop! Ambassador leave him alone! _

_ “He needs to learn to respect authority.”  _ The Ambassador pointed out his opinion calmly as Bart began to panic as Jaime’s hand remained in place preventing him from coming up for air.

Bart began to try lift his head by pushing up with his hands off the table with no success. When he had given up on that, he had begun flailing his arms up around to try and hit/ hurt the armored slave driver. If anything, whacking the armor had only hurt Bart. He had quickly learned that method was ineffective and had gone back to trying to heave himself upwards.

_ STOP! HE NEEDS TO BREATHE! PLEASE! _

_ “Since you asked so nicely…”  _ The leader puppeteering Jaime leered to provide Jaime with the imagery of him grinning.

Jaime’s breath hitched as he removed his hand painfully slowly as per the Ambassador’s control and thankfully Bart shot up spluttering before gasping for air.

Jaime was wrong, his eyes had managed to produce more salty tears. He had almost killed his soulmate and there had literally been absolutely nothing he could have done to stop it.

Bart was still spluttering and trying to regulate his breathing through his mouth. His nose canals burned with an unwelcome lining of the potato mash. He needed a shower desperately. His throat, nose and eyes were all stinging. No matter how many times he had wiped his eyes, coughed or blew his nose, he couldn’t seem to remove all traces of the malodorous mash.

Only now did Bart turn to look at Blue Beetle, he was relieved to see the maniac walking away. It was only now Bart noticed all the shocked eyes that were locked on him. There wasn’t a single person in that room who wasn’t truly floored by the fact that Bart had not only stood up to Blue Beetle, but that his life had also been spared. Nobody knew what had made him so special, because if that had been anybody else, the cafeteria would have had one less mouth to feed with their mass produced, rancid mashed potato.

Jaime walked off feeling nothing but awful for his forced upon him actions. Bart sent out a silent prayer for having severed his connection to Jaime. Bart couldn’t even imagine a version of the tyrant that he didn’t hate. He could remember Nathaniel having explained that some of the warriors were also slaves, but Bart just couldn’t envision it. Jaime Reyes, as the man underneath was named according to Nathaniel’s information, had seemed so genuine in his cruelty. Bart wasn’t quite sure how much wiggle room a hypothetical slave under the armor would have. He wasn’t aware that it was none so long as the armor was on.

The next terrible days passed and with every passing minute, Bart felt his hope of being rescued fade even more. He had hoped Nathaniel would come for him, and he was sure he would have attempted. Bart was worried he had been killed and was flooded with guilt every moment he wasn’t otherwise occupied feeling crippling depression.

Blue Beetle progressively treated him worse as time passed and Bart felt himself slipping on his initial strong desire to not kill Jaime if given the chance.

Only a few yards from the slave yard, a cautious Nathaniel crept in the shadows eyeing the slaves through the fence. He had gotten the supplies he had needed, nearly died several times on his trip. But he had made it, and now it was time for him to save Bart and get him back to that time machine. Nathaniel was going to shove Bart into that time machine and send him back in time if it was the last thing he did. But first he had to rescue Bart from the prison of pain and misery.


	5. Time To Jump Back

Nathaniel moved quickly like a fox as he ran from boulder to boulder scoping out hell’s waiting room. The rescuer swore under his breath as he had finally come to the conclusion there was no way he could get in. Not only was the fence electrified, it was lined with barbed wire at the top. Obviously the fence was designed to keep people from escaping, ironic given he wanted to get in and he knew the Reach would be more than happy to have another slave.

Shaking his head with dismay, he took of running past the fence screaming to garner attention.

It took a few seconds before Blue Beetle had registered onto the screaming and had realized the man running was actually outside the fence instead of inside of it.

_ “Warrior! Get him!”  _ The Ambassador ordered Jaime’s scarab to comply accordingly to the event which it had brought to his attention.

Jaime sighed sadly as the armor morphed on his back into a jetpack. It took a few moments but he had flown over the tall fence and had swooped up Nathaniel like an eagle. Keeping up the act, Nathaniel kept screaming and kicking and fighting in an attempt to escape. None of which even phased Jaime.

Khaji Da lowered the new prisoner inside the slave yard and immediately snapped an inhibitor collar around his neck. Jaime was forced to give the newcomer the same speech about how things operated in the Reach slave yard. He told Nathaniel he was to do as told at all times or risk being killed. He was also informed that the inhibitor collar could also electrocute them on command. After the list of threats had been prattled off, Jaime was forced to shove him in direction of the rest of the slaves to get immediately to work.

Brown eyes scanned the forlorn faces of the slaves around him. The Ambassador who had been watching with suspicion since discovering that the man hadn’t actually been an escapee but a newcomer drew down the glancing around as becoming familiar with the new horrorshow he was housed in.

Relief clouded Nathaniel’s eyes as he spotted Bart off in the distance dragging an engine of some kind. His back was turned and he hadn’t seen Nathaniel. Blue Beetle gave orders for him to get to work and the newcomer complied ensuring not to make eye contact with Bart as he knew he was still being supervised.

After about an hour of back-breaking labor, Blue Beetle stalked off elsewhere to take care of a scuffle evolving elsewhere.

Once he knew it was safe, Nathaniel ran over to Bart startling him.

“Nathaniel!” Bart exclaimed in a hushed whisper as a hopeful glint shone in his eyes.

“Shh!!!” Nathaniel hissed with a finger pressed against his lips.

“What’s the plan?” Bart whispered with apologetic eyes. The teenager didn’t let the scold demanding silence get him down. If there was one thing he knew, it was that Nathaniel wouldn’t have come to rescue him without a plan. Bart had absolute faith in him.

Nathaniel looked around to ensure the pair were out of earshot before leaning in close.

“I grabbed the last of the nano-marbles from the resource hideout.” As he spoke, he reached into his pocket to pull out four, cerulean marbles that glowed brighter than everything in the dank environment outside. The only thing that bright was Blue Beetle’s armor.

“These will free us from the inhibitor collar. I have four. One for each of us, then one for you to fix me in the past and that leaves us with one more.” Nathaniel explained as he handed over a marble into Bart’s noticeably filthy palm.

“Just press it onto the collar and it will be disabled in a second. I am going to use the fourth marble to bribe someone to create a distraction for us to escape. When they do, I need you to unlock your collar and run us both back to the safehouse.” Nathaniel’s steady eyes didn’t waiver as he relayed the plan. He was glad Bart watched and paid attention to every single word he had said.

“Okay.” Bart remarked sadly. He had two issues with that plan. Firstly, he knew that the distraction Nathaniel set up would likely result in the death of that troublemaker. Secondly, he was going to really struggle to run with Nathaniel. Despite being severely malnourished and underweight, Nathaniel would prove extremely hard to lift and run with. Thankfully the speed helped with the weight once you took off, but it was the initial acceleration that would prove difficult. Especially given Bart’s nutritionless diet over the past few days. Regardless of his issues with the plan, he didn’t feel like it would be fair to argue with the man who had risked death just to save him.

Nathaniel slinked off and found the toughest looking slave he could knowing they would have the ability to manipulate other slaves to do go along with him.

“Hey you!” Nathaniel snapped quickly at the same man Bart had accidentally angered on his first day as a slave.

Nathaniel held up a finger as the figure stalked at him murderously, “I have a proposition for you.” The lanky man swallowed nervously as the relentless brute continued barreling towards him, “I can help you escape!” The desperate sentence succeeded in stopping the threat in its tracks.

“I’m listening.” The psychopathic prisoner crossed his arms and frowned in a way that conveyed to Nathaniel if he disappointed with his proposition, that he would become forcefully indisposed.

“This marble right here,” Nathaniel lifted it between his thumb and forefinger to show it off, “It will disable your inhibitor collar. If I give it to you, I want you to rally anyone you can to distract Blue Beetle. Then, you need to go up behind him and snap the collar around his neck, it will reactivate upon doing so and you will have some time to buy your escape.” Nathaniel smirked to exude confidence as he pitched his plan.

The butch browbeater smirked as he nodded, “Okay. You’ve got yourself a deal.”

The man snatched the marble and stuck it up to his collar and cackled victoriously as his collar indeed fell off. He immediately gripped his neck and rotated his head getting used to the freedom he had long forgotten, “Well, it seems you were telling the truth. Nice doing business with you.” The man stalked off to garner a group of cooperation to go ahead with the stranger’s escape plan.

Nathaniel didn’t even spare a moment to feel guilty about having lied to the large lout about the collar reactivating upon being snapped on to Blue Beetle’s neck, before hightailing it back to Bart.

Just as Nathaniel had reached Bart, the pair heard many shouts and commotion coming from out of sight.

“Disable the collar now!” Nathaniel hissed with such urgency it frightened Bart.

Bart quickly pressed the marble up to his collar and exhaled with relief once it fell to the ground and he felt his connection to the speed force return instantly. The speedster grunted as he picked up a now collarless Nathaniel and ran phasing the pair through the fence. The adrenaline that kicked in as he imagined what Blue Beetle would do to him if he caught them escaping helped ease the pain that was not only supporting Nathaniel but exerting the speed required to vibrate them at a frequency to make it through the fence. 

The boisterous shouts which had turned to blood-curdling screams once Black Beetle had gotten involved upon the Ambassador sending him to help Jaime, only made Bart run faster until they were distant echoes he wished he could forget.

Bart lowered Nathaniel in their safehouse and panted heavily. He gripped at the left side of his chest. He was in astonishing pain.

“Bart, are you alright?” Nathaniel asked worriedly as he wondered whether he would be able to continue on their time traveling mission.

“Yeh. I don’t know why, but my left side is just a bit moded. I’ll be fine.” Bart assured with a gritted frown and a dismissive wave.

Nathaniel quickly got to work and dragged the time machine out into the open outside the cave as a safety measure. The elliptical electrical field encasing the time machine upon ignition could not be obstructed by the jagged walls or roof of the cave. By the time Nathaniel had dragged it out, he was exhausted and needed to stretch his legs and walk it off.

“Bart can you finish up adjusting the stabilizers?” Nathaniel’s order was masked as a question.

Bart simply nodded and grabbed the spanner before crouching and adjusting them.

“How’s it coming?” Nathaniel asked as he approached the speedster having completed his walk.

Bart’s shoulders kept moving as he continued working, “Almost finished.”

After a surprising sentiment of wishing he could come along, Nathaniel cut to the nitty gritty, “You understand the trip to the past will fry the machine’s circuitry. This is a one way ticket.”

“Does this look like a future worth returning to?” Bart asked sarcastically as he pointed over his shoulder.

Bart vanished and cleaned himself up by dipping into a murky lake nearby and air drying on his run back. Upon getting into costume he walked over to Nathaniel to accept the very last nano-marble.

“Curing me and saving Flash’s life, you know, that’s only the beginning.” Nathaniel began going over the same plan that Bart had memorized from having it repeated it to him relentlessly.

“I know Nathaniel. Big mission, lot’s to do. Better get to it.” Bart cut him off desperate to escape not only his past, but the lecture.

Bart hopped into the time machine and started the ignition sequence. He couldn’t help but feel guilty for having not thanked Nathaniel for all that he had done, but he was in a urgent hurry to return to the past before the Reach came searching for them.

“Bye Nathaniel.” Bart whispered from inside the cramped machine knowing full well his friend wouldn’t be able to hear him, but expressing his goodbye felt natural.

The machine hummed as it roared to life. The electric field encompassed the machine stretching out in white shards around it. Nathaniel stepped back as they hissed and cracked before they, the machine, and Bart were gone. 


	6. An Unexpected Character

Bart breathed a sigh of relief when he heard a thud as the time machine landed in the correct time period. Well, according to the quick glance of the instruments inside of the machine before bolts of electricity surfed over the dashboard frying the equipment. The door flung open and all Bart could see was smoke. He composed himself and got into character before making history’s most dramatic evidence.  _ Dang, I’m good. _

Bart chuckled as he ran circles around Nightwing, Robin and Beast boy following their rocky introduction. It was all he could do to contain himself upon being handcuffed.  _ I thought the history books said Dick Grayson was supposed to be smart? _

He was clearly a speedster, and Barry Allen-level precautions should have been the course of action. Nevertheless, Bart played along knowing he needed to find two things. Blue Beetle and Barry Allen. He needed to save his grandfather, and stop Blue Beetle.

“Except that’s two words. Blue Beetle is two words? Is he here? Nevermind, Impulse can find that out for himself!” Bart chuckled proudly before searching the cave without spotting the iconic blue armor, it was decided for him. Barry Allen would be his first stop.

Bart raced over to the Allen family home. He was admittedly ecstatic, not only because his act required him to be as part of his persona, but because he had missed his parents. He couldn’t wait to have family again.

The introductions went down less than sterling-ly. Bart had hoped they would have been initially more accepting of him, but he could understand why they were hesitant. It wasn’t everyday you’d receive a visitor from the future claiming to be your relative.

Upon Nightwing sending his confirmation to Barry that they were indeed family, Bart was able to savor in a much more relaxed, still shocked, but more relaxed welcome to the family. Once settled in, Bart decided it was time to find Jaime Reyes. The man, well now teenager, behind the armor.

He raced back to the cave where he had first arrived after carelessly leaving his time machine behind. He raced around the cave searching for the telltale azure blue armor and stopped when he spotted a young man. His warm, friendly brown eyes had caught his own. Bart felt safe just looking at him, it wasn’t really a feeling he could describe. But he decided to approach the stranger for help.

“Uhh hi!” Bart chirped in his friendliest voice.

“Hola?” Jaime locked eyes with Bart before scanning down the front of his costume, “Ah. You must be Bart. The new speedster?”

“Yeh! How’d you know?” Bart beamed proudly flashing his adorable grin at being recognized.

“I heard about you from Robin and Beast Boy.” Jaime chuckled as he recalled the lingo story.

“Oh. Good things I hope!” Bart grinned cheesily.

“Si.” Jaime nodded with a smile as warm as his sienna eyes and caramel skin.

“Are you lost? Can I help you?” Jaime asked genuinely, his smile still having not vanished.

“Oh. Thanks! Yeh actually. I’m looking for Jaime Reyes.” Bart found that remaining composed mentioning that name hadn’t been at all difficult being in this stranger’s presence.

“Oh. That’s me.” Jaime chuckled as he shut his lips in a smile that resounded friendliness of unspeakable magnitudes.

“Wait- wha?” Bart was quick enough to repress the choke that threatened to give away his surprise and break out of character.

“I’m Jaime Reyes.” Jaime made the statement to clarify, clearly amused by Bart’s surprise.

“You’re Blue Beetle?” Bart pointed weakly at the unarmored superhero.

“Si.” Jaime mused on why Bart was asking in the first place before asking, “Why were you looking for me specifically?”

“Oh… Well I am making an effort to meet all the members of the team!” Bart was impressed with his quick lie.

“Well it was nice to meet you!” Bart blurted before running off leaving a stunned and confused Jaime behind.

Bart ran all the way back to his new bedroom and locked the door behind him before flopping on his bed.

_ How is this possible? He… He’s not a monster here. He’s… nice. Actually, pretty crash. Maybe he really was a slave to the Reach in the future? So I can’t kill him. I have to save him.  _

Bart lay there gripping his duvet as the thoughts ran through his mind and then it him him. He had completely forgotten Jaime was his soulmate. It finally made sense now. Bart now understood why Jaime was his soulmate. The short glimpse of Jaime he had just gotten, before he had actually known who it was, he had felt inexplicably drawn to. The picture Nathaniel had shown him was of Blue Beetle, as in Jaime in armor. Bart had never actually seen a picture of, or even known what Jaime had looked like underneath. His soulmate wasn’t a monster after all. Bart had to save him from the Reach.

“I’m going to save you Jaime.” Bart smiled as he murmured the promise quietly to himself.

“Bart!” Iris summoned him from outside of his bedroom.

“Coming!” Bart grinned before dashing out to see what it was his grandma wanted.

Once Wally had told Artemis all about Bart, the speedster from the future, she just had to have a look. And knowing that she was about to be fake murdered on her next mission, she figured that then and there was the perfect time to go and meet the speedster before she could no longer be seen anywhere near the Allen’s or Garrick’s. The two got along splendidly which actually irritated Wally to high heaven.

Bart had an eventful few days with the apparent death of Artemis as well as befriending Jaime. Becoming Jaime’s friend had actually been rather effortless and easy knowing he was not on mode in this timeline and was also actually as already said, a crash person.

The next few months were extremely stressful. Fighting off the Reach and failing. Jaime being put on mode again had just shattered Bart. Not only had it filled him with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), he had been ridden with failure. He hadn’t managed to save his best friend and soulmate. Luckily with the help of the team, Zatanna was able to free Jaime from the Reach’s clutches.

Once they had gotten back to his house for a celebratory chill-hang, Bart had hugged Jaime for the first time. Jaime had noticed the lingering hand holds and other touching between them but had never drawn any conclusion from it until now. Only now did he begin to wonder about the motivations behind Bart’s hug as it had genuinely taken him by surprise.

“I’m glad you’re off mode again Jaime.” Bart had said after retreating from the hug with a slight redder face than Jaime was expecting. Oddly, Jaime had crystal clear recollection of that first hug. He could remember the way Bart’s chest had felt against his own, the speedster’s arms around his back. Not to mention the smell of his hair, or the way the brown fringe had tickled the side of his neck forcing him to hold back a giggle.

He could even remember his exact response, “Thanks ese.”

He could even remember Khaji Da’s response. It had been a warning about his heart rate elevating and an inhumane suggestion for how to resolve said issue.

The pair had only continued to grow closer and closer as best friends as the years passed.

Now Bart was fifteen and had fully fledged feelings for Jaime. It was so obvious that Jaime had indeed been the right choice as his soulmate. Bart spent everyday wondering whether he had broken Jaime’s heart in the future, but tried not to dwell on it given that version of Jaime no longer existed. Well, so he hoped since he and Jaime had successfully taken down the Reach years earlier. Bart was however aware that as they rapidly approached Jaime’s eighteenth birthday, he would discover his soul string had been cut. Worst of all though, was that the Reach would take a second attempt at putting Jaime on mode. If the pair thwarted their second attempt, they were homefree (or so the history books indicated).

In the months leading up to Jaime’s special birthday, he had been bringing up the topic of soulmates with Bart frequently. Bart hadn’t actually been forthcoming and had decided to keep the severing of his soul string to Bart a secret. And it was now the day before Jaime’s birthday and he was bringing it up again. Bart had insisted on being there to bring in his eighteen birthday. Bart knew Jaime would need the support upon the rude shock on his left hand appearing.

“Hey Bart…” Jaime’s voice sounded unsure as it broached the topic.

“Yeh?” Bart questioned lifting his head off of Jaime’s quilt to lock eyes with his soulmate.

“Do you think I’ll like my soulmate?” Jaime’s nervous fingers twiddled together as he looked away.

Bart grinned, “No question.”

Jaime chuckled and looked back, “How are you so confident?” A curious smirk awaited the answer.

“It’s just a feeling.” Bart gestured good-naturedly at Jaime as if it were Jaime himself that would charm whoever his soulmate was. And technically, it was true.

“Can I confide in you about something… But you have to promise not to tell my soulmate.” Jaime’s smirk disappeared now and was replaced with a wobbly grin. Bart felt Jaime’s legs stiffen underneath his own.

“Course you can!” Bart assured him with steady emerald eyes and a hand on his knee cap.

“I’m worried I won’t like my soulmate. I want to feel about them, the same way I feel about… well.. You.” Jaime blushed furiously before swallowing and clarifying his feelings, “You’re just really... crash.”

Bart leaned over and hugged him warmly, but looked at the headboard of Jaime’s bed with sorrow knowing Jaime’s fate for the following day.

Jaime smiled over Bart’s shoulder and looked up at the clock to count the hours and minutes down to when he would officially turn eighteen at midnight.

Upon relaxing into Bart’s embrace and pulling back out again to lie down on his pillow, Jaime spoke up again, “Why are you grinning?” 

Bart had been wearing a smug grin that he couldn’t decipher and he wanted to know what it was about.

“I’m not grinning.” Bart forced the grin off his face and replaced it with an innocent smile.

“You so were!” Jaime challenged in disbelief.

Bart couldn’t help himself, he had to probe the question, “What if I was your soulmate?”

Jaime’s eyebrows raised calmly like a happy ocean wave before rolling onto the caramel shore again where they usually rested, “I wouldn’t mind that at all.”

Bart blushed slightly and snuggled in closer to Jaime. The speedster was blissfully unaware that Jaime was crossing his fingers under the pillow hoping for Bart to turn out to be his soulmate. Jaime couldn’t ignore the immense spiritual connection he had felt forming between the pair over the years. They had a chemistry like nothing he had ever felt.

The speedster found himself in a difficult position. He could tell Jaime now that they were actually soulmates; but Bart was terrified that Jaime would be devastated by the news of his drastic act of untying Jaime’s soul string connection to himself. It was the biggest slap to the face anybody could receive. It was a spiritual disownment.

In addition, Jaime didn’t actually know the inner specifics of how poorly he had treated Bart in the future. Bart had kept the details to himself in order to protect his best friend. There was no way Bart wanted to risk Jaime feeling guilty over actions he had never willingly committed. And Bart knew Jaime, he would feel the guilt down to the very deepest depths of his soul.

Bart sighed heavily as he decided to wait and see how it played out.


	7. More Lies

“Only a minute now!” Jaime exclaimed ecstatically.

Bart smiled as a show of support but he was struggling to keep his mouth shut. Jaime was too busy counting down with Khaji Da to notice the stress fading in and out of Bart’s face. The speedster was bouncing his leg in unison with Jaime’s, each having their own reason for trying to distract themselves.

[ _ Ten seconds. _ ]

Jaime’s raised his left hand in preparation for inspection. He counted down with the scarab and took a sharp breath in as the counter hit zero. Feeling an odd sense of déjà vu.

[ _ Happy Birthday Jaime Reyes. _ ] Khaji Da had sounded only marginally happy making the announcement.

“Happy Birthday Jaime!” Bart hollered hoping it would distract him from his hand.

Jaime’s eyes lit up with excitement to beam as brightly as all his teeth that were flashing Bart happily when he had spotted a cobalt blue string wrapped around his ring finger. His pupils hungrily scanned down the string from the bow knot around his ring finger. Then, he gasped. His string had been… severed.

“Jaime…” Bart tried, the words failing to garner his best friend’s attention.

Jaime stared long and hard at the frayed threads hanging just short of his wrist. Tenderly, his right hand reached out to lift the string up. It was indeed broken.  _ But... how?  _ Jaime was feeling oddly like he had experienced this once before.

[ _ Jaime Reyes are you alright? You just experienced a severe shift into sadness. _ ] 

“Jaime…? Are you alright?” Bart exhaled sadly as he stared at the severed cobalt soul string on Jaime’s left ring finger. Jaime didn’t know that Bart could see it, because he wasn’t aware Bart was his soulmate.

“I don’t understand?” Jaime whispered having completely forgotten Bart was right beside him.

“Jaime…” Bart tried a third time before the grief stricken Latino looked up at him with tear covered eyes.

“Why did my soulmate destroy our connection?” Jaime’s adjective attacked Bart’s already drowning in guilt, heart.

“I’m sure they had a good reason Jaime.” Bart tried to sound reassuring as he placed a hand cautiously on Jaime’s shoulder.

“No! This doesn’t make sense! Why doesn’t my soulmate want me?” Jaime’s voice cracked forcing him to recollect himself to prevent further embarrassment, “Do they hate me?”

“No!” Bart’s exclamation caught Jaime off guard temporarily stunning him, “No.” Bart repeated himself softly before continuing, “Like I said- I’m sure they had a good reason for doing what they did.”

Jaime mulled on the possibility before returning back to his morose thoughts.

“I can’t believe they disowned me like that! I’ve never even met them! And they’ve already decided they want nothing to do with me!” Jaime’s tone was now angry, not sad. The unwelcome shift had occurred unnaturally quickly before it changed again. Confusion on his tongue now he questioned aloud, “Wait. How did they cut our connection since I’m supposedly the older one? Did they just untie their end really quickly?”

Bart’s nervous clenched teeth watched as Jaime showed the tell tale signs of talking to Khaji Da in his mind. Whatever explanation the scarab was providing could land him in hot water.

[ _ Chances of your soulmate having untied your soul string to their hand in a fraction of a second are low. There’s only one other plausible solution, but it is also extremely unlikely. _ ]

“What is it?” Jaime asked completely oblivious to Bart’s panicked expression.

[ _ It is possible that your soulmate severed the soul string in a different timeline. _ ] The scarab provided the theory that left Jaime in utter disbelief.

“So you’re saying my soulmate either had super speed or is a time traveler?” Jaime summarized rolling his eyes until his eyes popped open wide, “Wait. Bart.”

Jaime’s head snapped to make eye contact with the suddenly recomposed Bart, “You’re a speedster and traveled from the future! You fit both categories! Are you my s-” Jaime trailed off as Bart was suppressing the urge to explode.

“No. Bart can’t be my soulmate. He would never hurt me like this!” Jaime pinched the bridge of his nose in an equal amount of frustration and feeling of stupidity.

Bart sunk into the mattress having never felt so regretful in his entire life. Just when he didn’t think he could feel lower, Jaime started crying properly now. Bart didn’t feel like he had the right to touch and comfort Jaime when he was directly responsible for all this pain. While Bart battled whether he had the right to embrace Jaime, the Latino through himself onto Bart for comfort.

Bart hugged him back unsurely and tried to comfort Jaime. He figured it was the least he could do after thinking about it.

“Jaime, it’s alright. Like I said, your soulmate wouldn’t have done this without good reason. Like you said, they have never met you. You’ll have a chance to figure this all out when your soulmate turns eighteen and you have your second connection to them!” Bart tried to sound reassuring as he rubbed circles on the breadth of Jaime’s back.

“What if they untie the knot on their connection to me as well!” Jaime challenged, his logic perfectly valid since they could.

“They won’t. Trust me. I think this is all just a big mistake.” Bart was stunned when Jaime pulled away and was aware of Jaime’s face close to his own.

“You sound so sure ese.” Jaime sniffed subtly conscious of Bart’s proximity.

“I am.” Bart attempted a smile for Jaime’s sake.

“Thanks Bart.” Jaime whispered the short distance before crashing into him for another hug. Bart’s confidence was helping him to feel better.  _ Maybe Bart’s right? _

“Anytime. If there’s anything you need, say the word and I’ll do it.” Bart turned his lips to Jaime’s ear to help the words really sink in. He wanted Jaime to take his words seriously. This damage was after all, all his fault.

Feeling extremely vulnerable, Jaime snapped not giving a care anymore, “Why couldn’t my soulmate have been you?”

Bart remained silent and the color drained from his face.

Stammering to the end of his question, Bart asked, “Can I get you a glass of water?”

Jaime shook his head, “No thanks. Just need to hug it out.”

“Sure.” Bart tightened his hold on Jaime to squeeze an apology into him.

“Thanks for being here to wish me Happy Birthday too.” Jaime whispered in response to the tightened hug.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Bart was surprised when he felt a hand on his leg and pulled away.

“You know, I’m excited for you. I can’t wait for you to meet your soulmate. You deserve to meet that special someone.” Jaime’s sienna irises shimmered with genuinity.

_ This is going to be a long three years. _ Bart wanted to revalidate Jaime in the only way he could without being completely transparent.

“Jaime… I’m so glad I was able to come back to the past and meet you.” Bart began before beginning interrupted.

“Saved me.” Jaime corrected the modest speedster.

“Yes. Well… You and I have gone through a lot together. I feel like fate drew us together. You are so special to me, I hope you know that.” Bart’s unusually shy eyes darted around the room until he reached his last sentiment.

“I feel the same way.” Jaime assured with a smile.

Bart felt himself tearing up now.

“Oh no! Bart! Please don’t cry! If you start, I’ll start again!” Jaime stressed his warning by waving his hands frantically.

“Sorry. I’ll stop now.” Bart reigned in the tears and exercised his self control.

“How about we just go to sleep?” An emotionally exhausted Jaime proposed to his best friend.

“Sure.” Bart spoke softly as he crawled up beside Bart and cuddled him, much to his surprise and pleasure.

“Buenas noches Bart.” Jaime whispered down into the mass of auburn hair preventing him from seeing the sparkling green eyes before him.

“Night Jaime.”


	8. Confessions

The Reach did indeed make a return shortly after Jaime’s eighteenth birthday and it had wreaked immense havoc on both of their state of minds. Both of them found themselves experiencing flashbacks during the day and nightmares at night. The only comfort they found amongst that trying time was within one another. The pair spent almost every night sleeping over at the other one’s house. Eventually Bart and Jaime succeeded in taking down the Reach one last time with the help of the Outsiders and Justice League.

Bart and Jaime recovered as the years passed knowing that the Reach was never going to return, according to Bart’s knowledge. The speedster and scarab sporting superhero had only grown closer and closer. Jaime was now feeling guilt for how sinfully close the pair were getting. Especially when he was experiencing urges to kiss and hold the speedster like he was his soulmate. Jaime knew he couldn’t dare act on any of those urges as that wouldn’t be fair to Bart’s soulmate.

In fact, as Bart’s eighteenth birthday approached as quickly as speedsters seemed to run; Jaime found himself growing restless. Soon, Bart would have a soulmate that wasn’t him. Someone was about to steal Bart away from him and be able to call him theirs. Khaji Da was warning Jaime of his dangerous levels of jealousy. It was a touchy point between the closely bound couple.

Jaime had tried to put the lack of his soulmate issue out of his mind but had been fanning the flames by focusing on his severed soul string as of late. He had even asked Bart whether he should untie his end of the knot so that his soul string would vanish from his hand completely. The reminder was painful and was haunting him, but the speedster had convinced him to leave it on his hand. Both Jaime and Khaji Da did not see the value in keeping it knowing it would never reform, but Jaime would do anything for Bart and kept it since it had seemed like he had wanted him to.

As of late, Jaime had been wondering whether when he gets does eventually get his soulmate’s second string connected to his right hand, if he should give them what they wanted. And by that, he meant helping them disassociate him from their life by untying his connection to them when it appeared.

Bart was mortified when Jaime suddenly brought it up with the worst possible timing, the day before Bart’s birthday. 

“I’m thinking when I get my soulmate’s soul string, I’m just going to untie it. That way, they can’t find me since they clearly don’t want me.” Jaime’s bitter tone paired well with the sour expression that splayed itself across Bart’s face.

“Jaime. Don’t do that! That’s silly. I told you already, you need to give your soulmate a second chance.” Bart’s tone was evident of the fact he was upset.

Jaime’s ears immediately picked up on the tone and he was suddenly alarmed over bitter, “Lo siento. I’m making this all about me. I should be focusing on you. I didn’t mean to mode you.” 

“It’s okay Jaime!” Bart assured reeling in his irritation.

As the clock had just surpassed eleven in the evening, Jaime knew there was less than an hour before Bart officially turned eighteen and would likely dash off to go find his soulmate. Or even worse, he could run off and bring the soulmate back to his bedroom to meet Jaime. Or worse again. Jaime didn’t want to try and pretend to be happy around someone new. He didn’t have the strength for it, nor did he want to stand in Bart’s way of a romantic first meeting.

“Uhh ese, I’m going to go for a walk. I need some fresh air.” Jaime stood up rubbing his forehead as he debated the fairness of his actions.

“Oh. Sure.” Bart peeped with disappointment, “I can come with you if you want!” Bart beamed as he made the offer.

“Uhh… No, it’s alright. You stay here. I won’t be long.” Jaime felt incredibly gross for lying to Bart. He had no intention of returning. He was going to stay out of Bart’s lucious, long auburn hair for the remainder of the evening.

“Alright.” Bart nodded meekly as he nervously glanced up at the clock.

Jaime left Bart’s room physically and was unaware of the stress Bart was now simmering in.

Once only ten minutes were left on the clock, Bart came to the conclusion; Jaime wasn’t returning. And to make matters worse, Bart had just figured out why.  _ Shoot! I should have known! _

Bart stood up and raced over to Jaime’s house, he wasn’t there. Before leaving, Bart quickly asked Bianca or Alberto whether they knew where Jaime was but neither of them knew. Bart then raced over to the Premiere Building before stopping and asking around there as well. Cassie had suggested tracking his comm link but when Bart had tried he had discovered that Jaime had turned it off to avoid being traced.

_ Ugh! This is so moded! _

Bart raced back to his bedroom to see if Jaime had miraculously returned. As he had suspected, Jaime was not there. Upon seeing the clock Bart’s heart skipped a beat. The clock struck midnight. And he knew Jaime might do something stupid like untie his end of the soul string knot between them without even thinking it over.

Bart felt his hand left hand jerk him towards his bedroom door as a scarlet soul string snaked out underneath it. After a moment of being mesmerized, Bart realized he had a way to find Jaime! He just hoped he wasn’t too late.

At the exact same moment, Jaime had been standing in the El Paso desert kicking rocks with his upset sneakers when he was suddenly jerked to the side. It caught him off guard and almost caused him to trip and slip on some gravel.

“What the?” Jaime murmured as he looked down.

To match the color of the fury that flooded into his heart upon seeing it, the scarlet soul string boasted its newly found presence on his right hand. Jaime’s tears welled up with anger.

“Well soulmate, if you don’t want me…” Jaime’s fingers had never moved so quickly in his life. He pinched the knot and was about to give his brain the command to pull when he was startled out of his skin.

“Jaime! Stop!” Bart appeared out of thin air, hands upfront and pleading.

The string had now lifted up off the ground and was floating mid air as it was close enough to his soulmate to do so. Jaime’s pupils traced the scarlet string from his right hand to Bart’s left. Bart’s immediate action was to look down at the ground and let his shoulders droop in guilt.

“Bart- You’re my soulmate. But- How?” Jaime had been so upset he hadn’t even realized the timing of Bart’s birthday coinciding with the formation of his second soul string. One second later and that connection would have been severed. He supposed it was a good thing Bart had stopped him, because as mad as he was, he wanted to know who his soulmate was, and he had always hoped it would be Bart. But now he needed answers because he was perplexed beyond recognition. Bart cringed upon looking at his furious face and waited for the ball to drop.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jaime’s voice was coarse with righteous anger.

“I know, I should have. You just seemed so hurt when you found out it had been severed, I didn’t have the heart to tell you.” Tears poured down from Bart’s apologetic eyes.

“Why did you break our first connection?” Jaime folded his arms angrily and awaited the answer to the question he had spent every night of the past three years wondering about until he had eventually fallen asleep.

“I was trying to protect you!” Bart’s voice broke as he wondered whether this was it for him and Jaime.

“Protect me? I still don’t get why- Oh.” Jaime’s muscular arms tumbled to his side, “I did something bad in the future to you didn’t I?”

Jaime’s frame started shaking and he took a few wobbly steps back, “Dios mio, what did I do?”

“Jaime, it’s not important okay. It wasn’t you. It was the Reach controlling you. I don’t want you feeling guilt for something you never actually did, so I opted not to tell you.” Bart sounded much more confident now as he stood his ground and took a step towards Jaime.

“Yes. I untied your soul string, but I was hurting. The Reach made you do some unspeakable things in the future Jaime. But I came back in time, met you, and I saw that the universe was right. You are my soulmate. I regret untying your soul string. I truly do. I never meant to hurt you.” Bart walked up to Jaime and placed a hand on each of his soulmate’s shoulders.

Jaime believed every word Bart had said, he could see the genuinity shining in his shamrock green irises. He needed to let go of years worth of anger and forgive Bart for his actions. After all, it sounded like Bart had had ample reason to sever the connection between them. The important thing was that they had found the right version of each other.

Bart swallowed nervously and looked up to stare deep into those forgiving hazel eyes, “I love you Jaime. And I’m sorry for not telling you. I was just trying to protect you. I hope you can forgive me.”

Jaime nodded softly, “Si. I forgive you.” Jaime raised his right hand to lift Bart’s left arm off his adjacent shoulder. The Latino’s hand then scuttled down to Bart’s hand before interlocking their fingers together in a hand hold; while he brought his other free hand up and over the top so that his thumb could delicately rub over the scarlet soul string’s pretty knot above Bart’s ring finger.

“Oh and I- I love you too.” Jaime smiled as he watched their soul string glow just that little bit brighter.

Bart bit his lip cutely as his pupils flickered back up from their intimate hand hold to Jaime’s loving light brown irises.

Jaime and Bart’s heads had silently and slowly bended with the breeze and were now close in proximity. “Can I kiss you?” Jaime whispered the short distance.

“I’ve only been waiting for years.” Bart scoffed jokingly before chuckling.

“Not sure how you held out that long. You. Impulse. Of all people.” Jaime’s chuckle was cut off by Bart who had no intention to keep dragging the wait out any longer.

Jaime’s hands broke free from the hand hold to pull the warm body in the cold desert, flush against his own. It certainly made kissing the speedster easier and more enjoyable.

For both of them, everything else melted away. It was just the two of them in a world of love and no hate. Their lips continued dancing together as they hummed in tune with their hearts beating happily. Restless hands tried to find the best places to express the affection pouring out them.

When they did eventually have to break for air, their minds were both spinning, in a good way. Bart exhaled heavily into his soulmate’s chest, and similarly he felt Jaime’s long exhale rustle the hairs in his fringe.

“Well… that was crash.” Bart licked his lips as he chuckled up at an amused Jaime.

“Only crash, mi amor?” Jaime leered bringing Bart closer by his lower back.

“Yup.” Bart popped the ‘p’ cheekily.

“Well… I guess I better up my game then?” Jaime’s eyebrows jumped teasingly.

“It is my birthday…” Bart playfully stated the fact in an expectant tone.

“How about my place?” Jaime asked after placing one more kiss on the speedster’s lips having not finished basking in the love he had wanted to explore for so long.

Without speaking, Bart scooped Jaime up in his arms like the sweet confectionery he was sweeter than. An impressive gust of wind for no one to appreciate was left behind as Bart dashed off faster than he ever had before eager to get his birthday present.

\-- x --

Jaime and Bart laid sprawled out on the comfortable mattress they had just made love on. Bart reached out to hold Jaime’s hand; the latter eagerly intertwined their fingers upon meeting his soulmate’s hand.

Both eyes doused with only happiness, looked down to look at the almost non existent gap for the soul string to exist between both their ring fingers. The knots glowed their heavenly heart colored red, vibing with the passion the two were radiating.

Jaime squeezed Bart’s hand to get his attention, “Amoricto, do you think we should untie your soul string now that we’ve found each other?”

Bart looked up at the ceiling for a moment as he pondered the question. Typically, the majority of soulmates once finding one another untied both soul strings having no need for them anymore. There was nothing to prove, they knew who their soulmate was and that was the end of the story. Some also found the soul strings irritating purely because they were distracting in all their magnificent glory.

When Bart thought about it, he understood that side of reasoning, but he couldn’t help but want to keep the connection between the two. He liked the idea of being physically connected at all times, especially when he had gone through so much trouble to find his Jaime in the first place.

“I kind of like the idea of keeping it.” Bart smiled unsure of which way Jaime would lean.

“Me too.” Jaime’s eyes creased as he smiled, “It’s reassuring to have a way to always find you. I don’t want to lose you again.”

Bart wriggled up close to Jaime and cuddled him tight, “You won’t ever lose me Jaime.”

The Latino lifted his left hand up and the pair gazed at the severed cobalt blue soul string, “I’ll keep this one too. As a reminder that you and I will overcome any obstacle we face. As long as we have each other, we can do anything.”

Bart decided to kiss Jaime to relay just how romantic he thought his speech had been. Jaime kissed back tenderly knowing in his heart, that every word he had just spoken, was the truth. Together, they could face anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully it wasn't too boring to read! Feel free to leave comments (I respond to 99% of them). Hopefully it also wasn't too dark and angsty, or at least, the ending made up for it?


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